Caritas of Birmingham chartered a plane to fly from Birmingham, Alabama, to Mostar in Bosnia-Hercegovina, 30 minutes from Medjugorje. The charter was the first large commercial plane to land at the Mostar Airport since the early 1990s when the war began that broke up Communist Yugoslavia into separate republics. The flight made international news and was in the Croatian national news for three consecutive days. The pilgrimage was titled “Birth to Assumption Pilgrimage†and people were invited to come to Caritas to celebrate Our Lady’s birthday on August 5, and then to pilgrimage to Medjugorje to celebrate Our Lady’s Assumption. Visionary, Marija, and her family had been at Caritas for Our Lady’s birthday celebration. They traveled back to Medjugorje on the charter flight with a Friend of Medjugorje, his family and most of the Caritas Community.
